Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Sponsor Licence

You can apply for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence if you wish to employ sports people, entertainers or creative artists for up to 12 months.

Tier 5 Sporting Sponsor Licence

To apply for Tier 5 Sporting sponsor licence, you must be a sporting body, sports club, events organiser or other organiser operating, or intending to work in the sporting sector. If you are an agent, you cannot apply for Tier 5 Sporting sponsor licence.

Before applying for Tier 5 Sporting sponsor licence, you must make sure you have an endorsement from the Home Office approved sport governing body for your specific sport. The list of governing bodies currently approved by the Home Office, UKVI is given in Appendix M of the Immigration Rules. Through its endorsement, the sport governing body confirms to the Home Office, UKVI that you are a genuine club or equivalent, and you have a legitimate requirement to bring migrants to the UK as sportspeople.

Tier 5 Creative Sponsor Licence

To be allowed to apply for a licence to sponsor creative workers and their entourage, you must be operating, or intending to operate, in the creative sector. Examples include, but are not limited to:

Once you have submitted your online application, you must then send to the Home Office, UKVI all of the following to validate your application. A valid application must:

contain the original submission sheet (not a certified copy), which has been signed and dated by the Authorising Officer (all pages must be sent); and

contain all of the documents listed on the submission sheet as mandatory documents (originals or certified copies); and

all be sent in together within 5 working days of completion of the electronic application.

To get a Tier 5 Creative & Sporting licence, you must apply to the Home Office, UKVI, supplying specified documents to prove that you are suitable and eligible. The Home Office, UKVI will carry out appropriate checks before deciding whether to grant the sponsor licence. The Home Office, UKVI considers an application to join the sponsor register by assessing whether you meet the relevant requirements. If your application for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Sponsor Licence is accepted by the Home Office, UKVI, you will be issued with SMS login ID and password to manage your sponsor licence online. Your sponsor licence will be valid for 4 years and can be renewed online prior to the expiry of the licence.

Once you have been granted a Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence you will be able to assign certificates of sponsorship (CoS) to migrants who wish to come to, or stay in the UK to work as Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Temporary Workers. The Home Office, UKVI will decide how many certificates of sponsorship (CoS) you will be allowed to assign under Tier 5 Creative & Sporting licence.

For migrants, being assigned a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) is an essential part of qualifying for entry clearance (if they are outside the UK) or leave to remain (permission to extend their stay while in the UK). But there are also other requirements set out in the immigration rules that they must meet. They must score enough points, and are likely to be refused if there is anything in their personal or immigration history that suggests that their presence in the UK is not desirable.

Duties As A Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Licenced Sponsor

As a Tier 5 Creative & Sporting licensed sponsor you must comply with certain duties, including, but not restricted to, a duty to inform the Home Office, UKVI if the Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Worker does not turn up for work, or if he is absent without permission for a significant period. You must also keep proper records of the migrants you sponsor, including contact details and a copy of their biometric residence permit (BRP), and supply any documentation to the Home Office, UKVI on request.

The Home Office, UKVI will monitor your behaviour and compliance with your duties once you have been granted Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence. In particular the Home Office, UKVI will:

set a limit on the number of certificates of sponsorship (CoS) you can assign as a Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor, and review your performance after you have assigned a certain number;

make visits, pre-arranged or not, to check compliance; and

refer cases for civil penalty action to be taken where the Home Office, UKVI find evidence that you have breached the illegal working regulations.

Tier 5 creative & Sporting Sponsor Licence Rating

You will get an A-rated licence if your application for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence is approved.

A-rating - full sponsor licence

An A-rated licence lets you start assigning certificates of sponsorship (CoS) and your business will be listed in the register of sponsors.

Downgrading to B-rating

Your A-rated licence may be downgraded to a B-rating at a later stage if you don’t continue to meet your sponsor duties. If this happens, you won’t be able to issue new certificates of sponsorship (CoS) until you have made improvements and upgraded back to an A-rating.

Upgrade to an A-rating

You need to follow an ‘action plan’ provided by the Home Office, UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to upgrade your Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence. At the end of the action plan you’ll be upgraded to an A-rating if you complete all the steps and there’s nothing else you need to improve. You’ll lose your Tier 5 Creative & Sporting licence if you don’t complete all the steps.

If you need to make other improvements, you’ll be given another B-rating and will have to follow a new action plan.

You can only have 2 B-ratings in the 4 years that your licence is valid. You’ll lose your licence if you still need to make improvements after your second action plan.

The immigration solicitors at Sunrise Solicitors are experts in dealing with application to the Home Office for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Sponsor Licence. The quality of our service is self-evident from the clients' reviews about the service provided by our immigration lawyers. You can contact us if you are seeking legal help from immigration lawyers in London in relation to your application for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Sponsor Licence and our immigration solicitors will provide you fast, friendly, reliable and professional immigration service.

If instructed to represent you regarding your application for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence, the work to be done by our immigration solicitors will include the following:

Taking instructions from you about the job position for which you are considering to employ a migrant worker and advising you whether or not the job role is skilled to the required level for the position to be filled through sponsorship through Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence;

Advising the steps to be taken prior to submission of the Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application;

Advising on the documentary evidence to be submitted in support of the Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application;

Considering the contents of the documentary evidence to be submitted in support of your Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application and discussing the same with you;

Discussing your Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application in detail with you and advising you about the weaknesses and strengths of your application for sponsorship licence;

Preparing a detailed cover letter and providing the relevant information as required by the Home Office in relation to the sports body, endorsement by the relevant sports governing body, vacancy for sportsperson, the details of the identified migrant sportsperson, the relevant SOC code, the salary to be paid, the details of the Authorising Officer etc

Assisting you with sending the original documents to the Home Office, UKVI following submission of the online application for sponsorship licence within the specified time;

Liaising with the Home Office, UKVI for a timely decision on the Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application;

Protecting your interests while your application is pending with the Home Office, UKVI and keeping you informed of the progress on your sponsor licence application;

Advising on how you should handle the visit by the Home Office for compliance check before decision on the sponsor licence application and advising you on the sponsor duties including the record keeping duties as a sponsor;

Doing all the follow up work until decision is reached on the Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application by the Home Office, UKVI;

Advising you on the next steps to be taken upon receipt of the decision on the application.

Our Fee For Tier 5 Creative & Sporting Sponsor Licence Application

We will charge you a fee from £1500.00 + VAT for our professional immigration services in relation to your application for Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence. The agreed fee will depend on the complexity of the matter and the casework involved in the matter.

The agreed fee will cover all our work until decision by the Home Office, UKVI on the Tier 5 Creative & Sporting sponsor licence application. However, it is pertinent to note that the agreed fee will not cover any disbursements to be incurred by us on your behalf e.g. the Home Office, UKVI fee for the licence application etc.